AED battery problems - Now fixed :)

Discussion
1

I checked the AED last night.

The cross was showing instead of the tick, it did power on but then started to beep which seems to indicate flat batteries.

I was told that the batteries were last changed about a month ago and it started beeping 7 days after the batteries were changed. They are supposed to last 5 years…

To me, it seems that there are two likely reasons for this, either the AED is faulty or the last set of batteries were counterfeit.

It can be very hard to avoid counterfeit, AKA fake, batteries so I bought a new set from Sainsbury’s which were expensive but more likely to be genuine than buying online. We’ll see if they last more than a week.

I’ve looked online for guides on spotting fake Duracell CR123s but can’t find one. There is lots of information on spotting fake AA and AAAs. One of the tests is peelable labels, which the old batteries do have but I don’t know if this applies to CR123s as well as AAs. I didn’t check the Sainsbury’s batteries for this, but will next time I’m in.

The old ones appear to be the correct weight - at least on my kitchen scales.

The internal resistance is lower than on the datasheet, but that could be my new tester.

The voltage has dropped to about 3V depending on what I measure them with. None of my battery testing equipment is calibrated.

If I get time, I have a battery variable load tester and I’ll try them with that.

Here’s the Duracell datasheet for anyone that is interested.
Duracell CR123A.pdf (643.7 KB)

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Did we not just buy these batteries with the machine?

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I recently took a defibrillator training class at my GP surgery. The instructor urged owners to register their equipment with Resuscitation Council UK:

Has ours been registered? As i understood it, one of the benefits of registration is that an inspector will come periodically to verify the AED is working correctly, and replace any batteries, pads etc. My impression was that batteries should last approximately 5 years.

Also, the location of the AED will show up on maps for emergency personnel, even if not accessible 24/7.

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Sorry, I don’t know.

They don’t use rechargeable batteries, a fresh set should last about 5 years.

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It’s now been over a month since I fitted the new batteries, and the green tick is still showing, so they appear to be good. I fitted them on 18 December and it’s now 22 January.

I’ll submit an expense claim for them now that I know they work.

I heard that @Kyle bought the faulty set that only lasted a week. This may not be correct. I have that set at home and will bring them back to the space, in case anyone has a use for them.

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